Picture the scene: You need a new office, you’re prepped and ready to go, your mind is whirring with thoughts of how many desks you’re after, what size meeting rooms you need, where you want the coffee machine (or drinks fridge) to go, but wait a minute… How do you actually kick this off properly?

Ultimately, there are two main ways to go about it.

👉 The DIY approach  

If you’ve been doing your research, you might spot signs on buildings which say ‘office to let’, which give details for either the landlord’s broker (if it’s leased) or the office provider’s (if it’s a fully-managed flexible space). Sometimes, they could give details for the office provider directly, too. 

Next steps usually involve getting in touch with the landlords, or office providers, to book in and view it, and after that, questioning the representative who shows you the ropes, and then onto negotiating important stuff like the price & terms.

Sound like a lot? It usually is, but if you have experts in-house - so don’t need the extra layer of help from a broker - and are convinced it ticks all the boxes, then DIY could be the best route to take. There’s also a chance you could save money on the broker fee, however, these don’t always apply, it depends what kind of office you’re after.

Top tip - If it’s flexi you’re after, we have a load of them you can check out on HeyOffices.

👉 The supported approach 

The other way to get started is with a helping hand (where we come in - yay).

This is when you can forget about all the faffing, all the research, contacting people, and understanding the ins and outs - you simply leave that stuff in our hands so you can crack on with the important part of building your business. Hurrah!

We have a few tricks up our sleeves when it comes to offices - we can show you ones you didn’t know existed and help you get a fresh perspective on things like location, layout, size, etc. We know all the best places, and we’ll be able to help you figure out those most suited to you and your team. 

Right, now that’s covered, you’ve got it in the bag and know which approach you want to take.

Whichever way you work it, there are 3 main rules to remember. 

👉 Get started early 

Like with most things in life, an office search can often take longer than you think. Sometimes it can take weeks, or even months, depending on what type of space you’re after.

For example, if it’s a flexi, you’d probably allow anywhere from 1-5 months (depending on how prepared you want to be), but it can be much, much shorter (sometimes weeks or even days!), whereas for a lease you’d be looking at a minimum of 3 months. 

Make sure you know when you’d need to leave your current office too, so we can make sure you’re settled into the new place in plenty of time. If it’s somewhere which hasn’t been fully built yet you’ll be able to influence loads of things around layout, design, etc, but you’ll also need to get ahead of the game.

So, the sooner we get chatting, the sooner we can help. 

👉 Focus on one agent

We know it’s only natural to want to branch out with more than one agent, especially when it comes to searching for a property, but you can save yourself money and many, many, many headaches by opting to go with just the one.

Seeking out a new office is a hefty process, and involves many different factors, so working with one agent means you’ll have their full attention from start to finish.

Instead of hopping between 3 or 4 different people, you’ll be working with one team, with one main point of contact, avoiding the hassle of too many cooks, and having to repeat what you want (or don’t want) on multiple occasions.

Plus, you’ll likely get more leverage during negotiations - what’s not to love?

👉 Clarification is key 

Ok so you’ve spent ages viewing offices, you’re convinced you’ve found the one, but when you try and get sign-off internally, someone puts a spanner in the works by saying they don’t like the location. Arg!

We understand when it comes to signing off an office, it’s not just a case of one person being the go-to, so it’s always best to brief everyone who’ll be involved in advance, and keep them up to speed during the process to ensure no last minute scaries. 

We don’t mean having them at every viewing, and of course there’s many things which will develop as you go throughout the process, but making sure they’re aware of where you’re at with it all, where you’re thinking location-wise, and which office options you’re looking at  means less headaches and time-wasting when it becomes too far down the line.

So, if the supported route is something you’d like to explore, we’re here! Even if not, the DIY approach is something we're more than happy to give guidance on too, just hit that handy yellow Find Your Next Office button top right - we’re ready whenever you are.